Dr. rer. nat. Heike Chauvistré

Research Focus

My research focuses on how melanoma cells survive MAPK pathway inhibition by entering drug-tolerant states driven by coordinated changes in cell identity, redox balance, plasma membrane organization, and chromatin regulation.

I am particularly interested in how therapy-induced cell state plasticity enables transitions between proliferative and dedifferentiated phenotypes through dynamic transcriptional and epigenetic programs, including early chromatin remodeling events linked to factors such as KDM5B.

In parallel, my work focuses on redox control systems, especially the peroxiredoxin (PRDX) network, and their role in supporting the survival of these persister-like states under therapeutic stress.

I also investigate how changes in plasma membrane composition and fluidity influence drug uptake and signaling responses to MAPK inhibition.

Together, these approaches aim to define how melanoma cells adapt to targeted therapy and to uncover new therapeutic vulnerabilities beyond the MAPK pathway.

Current projects:

1. Peroxiredoxin–thioredoxin–mediated redox control during melanoma resistance development
2. Modelling the molecular determinants of intrinsic drug resistance in melanoma (CRC1752 DYNAMO, Project A01)
3. Epigenetic chromatin remodeling by KDM5B during melanoma resistance development

Key publications:

Chauvistré H, Shannan B, Daignault-Mill SM, Ju RJ, Picard D, Egetemaier S, Váraljai R, Gibhardt CS, Sechi A, Kaschani F, Keminer O, Stehbens SJ, Liu Q, Yin X, Jeyakumar K, Vogel FCE, Krepler C, Rebecca VW, Kubat L, Lueong SS, Forster J, Horn S, Remke M, Ehrmann M, Paschen A, Becker JC, Helfrich I, Rauh D, Kaiser M, Gul S, Herlyn M, Bogeski I, Rodríguez-López JN, Haass NK, Schadendorf D, Roesch A. Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 1;13(1):3055. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30641-9.

Harbers FN, Thier B, Stupia S, Zhu S, Schwamborn M, Peller V, Chauvistré H, Crivello P, Fleischhauer K, Roesch A, Sucker A, Schadendorf D, Chen Y, Paschen A, Zhao F. Melanoma Differentiation Trajectories Determine Sensitivity toward Pre-Existing CD8+ Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes. J Invest Dermatol. 2021 Oct;141(10):2480-2489. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.03.013.

Chauvistré H, Seré K. Epigenetic aspects of DC development and differentiation. Mol Immunol. 2020 Dec;128:116-124. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2020.10.011.

Vogel FCE, Bordag N, Zügner E, Trajkovic-Arsic M, Chauvistré H, Shannan B, Váraljai R, Horn S, Magnes C, Thomas Siveke J, Schadendorf D, Roesch A. Targeting the H3K4 Demethylase KDM5B Reprograms the Metabolome and Phenotype of Melanoma Cells. J Invest Dermatol. 2019 Dec;139(12):2506-2516.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2019.06.124

Váraljai R, Wistuba-Hamprecht K, Seremet T, Diaz JMS, Nsengimana J, Sucker A, Griewank K, Placke JM, Horn PA, von Neuhoff N, Shannan B, Chauvistré H, Vogel FCE, Horn S, Becker JC, Newton-Bishop J, Stang A, Neyns B, Weide B, Schadendorf D, Roesch A. Application of Circulating Cell-Free Tumor DNA Profiles for Therapeutic Monitoring and Outcome Prediction in Genetically Heterogeneous Metastatic Melanoma. JCO Precis Oncol. 2019 Feb 15;3:PO.18.00229. doi: 10.1200/PO.18.00229.

Lin Q.*, Chauvistré H.*, Costa IG, Gusmao EG, Mitzka S, Hänzelmann S, Baying B, klisch T, Moriggl R, Hennuy B, Smeets H, Hoffmann K, Benes V, Seré K, Zenke, M. Epigenetic program and transcription factor circuitry of dendritic cell development. Nucleic Acids Res 2015 16;43(20), 9680-93

Cierlitza M.*, Chauvistré H.*, Bogeski I, Zhang X, Hauschild A, Herlyn M, Schadendorf D, Vogt T, Roesch A. Mitochondrial oxidative stress as a novel therapeutic target to overcome intrinsic drug resistance in melanoma cell subpopulations. Exp Dermatol. 2015 24(2), 155-7

Allhoff M, Seré K, Chauvistré H, Lin Q, Zenke M, Costa IG. Detecting differential peaks in ChIP-seq signals with ODIN. Bioinformatics. 2014 Dec 15;30(24):3467-75. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btu722

Chauvistré H, Küstermann C, Rehage N, Klisch T, Mitzka S, Felker P, Rose-John S, Zenke M, Seré KM. Dendritic cell development requires histone deacetylase activity. Eur J Immunol. 2014 Aug;44(8):2478-88. doi: 10.1002/eji.201344150.

Eggermann T, Meyer E, Schönherr N, Flick F, Chauvistré H, Mavany M, Wollmann HA. Mutation analysis of GNAS1 and overlapping transcripts in Silver-Russell syndrome patients. Mol Genet Metab. 2007 Feb;90(2):224-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2006.09.004